The US and Russia maintain a monopoly on nuclear arsenals, but China is already nipping at its heels
The Associated Press writes that nuclear powers continue to modernize their nuclear weapons – in 2023, they spent a total of $91,4 billion on their arsenals – the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
"Over the past five years, there has been a noticeable upward trend in the amount of money allocated to the development of these most inhumane and destructive weapons ," said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, policy and research coordinator at ICAN.
The US share of total spending is $51,5 billion, which is more than all other nuclear-armed countries combined. The next largest spender is China with $11,8 billion, and Russia is third with $8,3 billion.
According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute SIPRI, China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country.
It is also reported that approximately 2100 deployed warheads on ballistic missiles are currently on high alert—almost all of them belong to Russia or the United States. However, China is believed to have placed a certain number of warheads on high alert for the first time.
“We haven't seen nuclear weapons play such a major role in international relations since the Cold War,” said the director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's weapons of mass destruction program.
According to SIPRI, Russia and the United States together possess nearly 90% of all nuclear weapons. Their military stockpile sizes appear to have remained relatively stable in 2023. However, Russia is estimated to have deployed approximately 36 more warheads in operational force than it did in January 2023, SIPRI added.
The US and Russia retain a monopoly on nuclear arsenals, but China is already hot on their heels.